bcmaui wrote:Good question. As lunch is open each day and Bart is close, it would be interesting to explore other options than the Marriott.
Also, any good lunch places near the hotel, or easy to get to on public transport?
BART is right next to the hotel. Also, Oakland (and the East Bay in general) is a diverse food mecca:
1) The Bay Wolfe on Piedmont Ave., next to Cato's Alehouse. The Bay Wolfe is more of a dinner place, but offers high-end California cuisine.
2) Cafe 15 on 15th in DT makes a mean fried chicken sandwich and has other traditional American food and does breakfast too.
3) Nation's Giant Hamburgers on Broadway (a few blocks from the hotel towards Jack London Square) has huge juicy burgers with insanely thick slabs of cheese. Great milkshakes and pies too.
4) Cesar's on Piedmont Ave. has a huge selection of tapas and small entrees. Great place to go with a small group and sample a ton of different foods. Also one of the few bars I know of that has Pappy Van Winkle 23 Y/O by the glass.
5) Pizzaiolo on Telegraph Ave. is a very well-priced rustic Italian place with great wood-fired pizzas as well.
6) Cato's Alehouse on Piedmont Ave. has a good selection of craft beers on draft and decent pub grub.
7) Top Dog has a ton of locally made gourmet sausages grilled to order. It's on 14th St. a few blocks from the hotel.
Dopo on Piedmont Ave. has great service and excellent Italian food with a great selection of homemade gelatos.9) Oliveto on College Ave. is across the street from the Rockridge BART station. They have a great fusion cafe downstairs and a nice California cuisine cafe upstairs.
10) Barclay's on College is a few blocks north of the Rockridge BART station. Decent pub grub and one of the best tap selections in the East Bay.
Granted, some of these places are a short cab ride from downtown Oakland, but they're some of my favorite places in my hometown. Many of them are close to one another (Piedmont Ave has a ton of great places to eat and is about a 5 minute cab ride from the hotel). I could go on about the hundreds of awesome places to eat in Oakland so feel free to ask me at the conference.
